Characterising the core microbiota of the sandfly Phlebotomus argentipes using next-generation sequencing

Sand flies transmit Leishmania parasites across the world, causing visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis. One major foci of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is Bihar, a northern state of India. Native microbiota of insect vectors are known to play a part in vectorial capacity, and can be exploited in vector control strategies. However, the microbiome of Phlebotomus argentipes, the only VL vector in Bihar, is currently restricted to aerobic culture characterisation of pooled samples. In this study we use 16S sequencing to describe the core microbiome of individual Ph. argentipes sand flies, and explore the implications of the described genera on future disease control strategies.